Hillary Sexism Watch, Part Ninety-Goddamn-Four

Part Ninety-Goddamn-Four—and, btw, for those who think I'm actively looking for these stories, the reality is that I'm only picking the most egregious examples of what I find and/or what are sent to me; if I blogged them all, I'd never blog anything else—was sent to me by contributor Kenny Blogginz and comes care of Barbara Ehrenreich in AlterNet, under the tremendous title "Hillary Revealed That Women Can Be Nasty, Deceptive Candidates Too" and the awesome subtitle "Hillary Clinton smashed the myth of innate female moral superiority in the worst possible way—by demonstrating female moral inferiority."

Now, ignoring for a moment the veracity of its claims, the title itself essentially says, "Women are human beings, too," as if that's news, while the subtitle mendaciously implies it might be feminist supporters of Clinton who promulgate "the myth of innate female moral superiority," though the only people I've ever heard promoting that shit are conservative sexists trying to hold women responsible for society's ills ("Children need their mothers at home") or their own safety ("Women can't dress provocatively if they don't want to be raped because men can't help themselves"), which are the types of ideas roundly rejected by feminists.

Ehrenreich's (extremely questionable) feminism as represented in this piece, which seems based on the premise that women are biologically disposed to virtue and women who aren't virtuous (by her definition) are to be subjected to wanton misogyny, is certainly nothing I recognize. Indeed, it is the precise opposite of the basic tenet of sex equality, as she trots out a slew of sex-based insults, comparing the Senator to Abu Ghraib torturer Lynndie England, notes Clinton's "visible anger...can't all have been PMS," and says "Clinton didn't just break through the 'glass floor,' she set a new low for floors in general, and would, if she could have got within arm's reach, have rubbed the broken glass into Obama's face."

And, after all that, the piece culminates with:

As a generation of young feminists realizes, the values once thought to be uniquely and genetically female -- such as compassion and an aversion to violence -- can be found in either sex, and sometimes it's a man who best upholds them.

I don't think there are many feminists of any age who need an evil caricature of Hillary Clinton, or even a list of her real flaws, to convince them women don't have the market cornered on virtue or that there aren't men who uphold the values of compassion and peace. But I suppose it's fun to pretend that there are, when there's no reason for a screed against Clinton without the pretense.

[Hillary Sexism Watch: Parts One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten, Eleven, Twelve, Thirteen, Fourteen, Fifteen, Sixteen, Seventeen, Eighteen, Nineteen, Twenty, Twenty-One, Twenty-Two, Twenty-Three, Twenty-Four, Twenty-Five, Twenty-Six, Twenty-Seven, Twenty-Eight, Twenty-Nine, Thirty, Thirty-One, Thirty-Two, Thirty-Three, Thirty-Four, Thirty-Five, Thirty-Six, Thirty-Seven, Thirty-Eight, Thirty-Nine, Forty, Forty-One, Forty-Two, Forty-Three, Forty-Four, Forty-Five, Forty-Six, Forty-Seven, Forty-Eight, Forty-Nine, Fifty, Fifty-One, Fifty-Two, Fifty-Three, Fifty-Four, Fifty-Five, Fifty-Six, Fifty-Seven, Fifty-Eight, Fifty-Nine, Sixty, Sixty-One, Sixty-Two, Sixty-Three, Sixty-Four, Sixty-Five, Sixty-Six, Sixty-Seven, Sixty-Eight, Sixty-Nine, Seventy, Seventy-One, Seventy-Two, Seventy-Three, Seventy-Four, Seventy-Five, Seventy-Six, Seventy-Seven, Seventy-Eight, Seventy-Nine, Eighty, Eighty-One, Eighty-Two, Eighty-Three, Eighty-Four, Eighty-Five, Eighty Six, Eighty-Seven, Eighty-Eight, Eighty-Nine, Ninety, Ninety-One, Ninety-Two, Ninety-Three.]